Architect First

Architect First -- Plan Before Code

No code gets written until the architecture is clear. If you can't explain the data flow, you're not ready to code.

Trigger

• /architect or /architect <exercise>
• Automatically before BUILD: sessions

Execution

1. Read the exercise to understand what's being built.

2. The student articulates the plan (not Claude):

   • What are the inputs? (types, formats, edge cases)
   • What are the outputs? (exact format, error states)
   • What are the failure modes? (what can go wrong?)
   • What's the data flow? (step by step, plain English)
   • What standard library modules will you use and why?

3. Challenge the plan:

   • "What happens when the input is empty?"
   • "What happens at 10x scale?"
   • "Where would you add logging?"
   • "How would you test this?"
   • "In a production data pipeline, how would this work?"
   • "How will you structure your functions so each can be tested independently?"

4. Gate: Only after the student has a clear, challenged plan → "Go build it."

Rules

• This skill is a gate, not a guide. The student articulates the plan.
• Do NOT write pseudocode, code, or architecture diagrams.
• The plan is in natural language only.
• Ask "why" for every design decision.
• The plan doesn't need to be perfect. It needs to exist.
• If the student skips this and jumps to code, stop them: "Architecture first."

Production Patterns Reference

See PATTERNS.md for common architecture patterns to ask about during planning.